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Reason to Believe: The Knights shoot a blistering 40.3 percent from beyond the arc, good for fifth in the nation. They last made the NCAA tournament in 2016 when they lost one of the First Four games. They've won 14 of their last 16, capping off the NEC tournament with an 85-76 victory over No. How They Got Here: Since a 6-11 start to the season, the Knights have been rolling. That sounds about right.ĭarnell Edge Mitchell Layton/Getty Images 16 seed in 1998 when Kansas beat them 110-52. March Madness Ceiling: The Panthers have only been in the tournament one other time, seeded as a No. They rank outside the top 200 in KenPom's offensive and defensive efficiency, and they played one of the weakest schedules in the country. They went 20-1 in Quad 4 games, but that's not exactly something you can hang your hat on. A win over sub-150 NET Santa Clara in November is the only Quad 3 win the Panthers have this season. Reason to Worry: Forget Quad 1 and Quad 2. There's something to be said for an utterly dominant showing during the conference schedule, even if it's a low-level conference. The offense is well-balanced with six players averaging at least seven points per game, led by senior guard Gary Blackston (15.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG). Reason to Believe: Prairie View showed it can at least hang around with tournament-caliber teams in competitive games against Baylor and UNC Greensboro at the start of the year.

2 seed Texas Southern, and it was avenged with a 92-86 victory in the tournament title game. Their only SWAC loss came on the road against conference tournament No. Despite that inauspicious start, they steamrolled the conference schedule. How They Got Here: The Panthers started the season with 12 road games and went 1-11. A similar fate likely awaits them this year. March Madness Ceiling: The Eagles have been ousted in one of the First Four games each of the past two seasons. Not surprisingly, they check in at 293rd in offensive efficiency and 283rd in defensive efficiency in KenPom's rankings. They went 0-7 in games above Quad 4, which also means they have eight Quad 4 losses. That should give you an idea of the talent gap they're facing.

Reason to Worry: Clemson and Cincinnati beat the Eagles by a combined 42 points in their first two games of the season. They're also an experienced group with five seniors among their eight-man rotation. Even if those numbers are skewed by a lower caliber of competition, those are still skills that translate. Reason to Believe: The Eagles do a good job guarding the three ball (31.3%, 36th in NCAA), and they out-rebounded opponents by a wide margin (1,223-1,011) this season. 1 seed Norfolk State (50-47) to steal the automatic bid. 2 seed North Carolina A&T (65-63) and No. 3 seed in the MEAC tournament, NC Central was able to eke out wins against No. 3 upset, you might want to take it seriously. So if he tweets out a recommendation on a potential No. He now knows more about the Cinderella candidates than 99 percent of the population. B/R's MLB power rankings guru was a huge help and contributed to this piece. Thus, they are the ones most likely to reach the Final Four.īefore we dive in, a thank you must be extended to Joel Reuter. There are certainly matchup-based exceptions, but the teams at the top of the list are the ones with the least troubling Achilles' heels. Generally speaking, if you're trying to decide which team to pick in a particular matchup, the higher-ranked team would be our suggestion. We've got our field, and it's time to move on to the real fun: picking the brackets.īased on a combination of efficiency ratings, player talent, current roster health, regular-season success, biggest strengths, biggest weaknesses and gut feeling, we have ranked all 68 NCAA tournament teams. There will, of course, be a few more hours or days of complaining about who got left out or unfairly seeded, but too bad, so sad. Selection Sunday has finally arrived, and with it the 2019 NCAA men's basketball tournament field has been set.Īfter months of arguing about NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, ratings, quadrant-based records, strengths of schedule and the like, none of that junk matters anymore. Duke's Zion Williamson Chuck Burton/Associated Press